The Slippery Slope
by rainbowspy
Summary: My idea of what will happen in the next SoUE book... Please r&r-- some spoilers later on... ~*~CHAPTER 5 IS UP!~*~
1. A glimmer of hope appears

I don't own Lemony Snicket or his books. I just try to imitate his magnificent style of writing. I also have no connections with Mr. Snicket. I've just put in what I think might happen later on. Enjoy, this is my first fanfic-"Flames will be used to roast marshmallows."(By the way, if anyone knows who came up with that, I can give him or her proper credit on future chapters.)  
  
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You may recollect a time when you were very happy. Your birthday party, for example, or when you had just escaped a group of evil people who burned down your house and caused a schism in an organization you had joined. But Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire were in no shape to remember one of the few happy times in their lives before the huge fire that had killed their parents one day while they were at the beach, since Sunny was in the clutches of an evil man, Count Olaf, who was trying to steal the Baudelaire's fortune, and Violet and Klaus were tumbling down a steep road up in the Mortiman Mountains inside a trailer. It grieves me to speak about this, but I am obliged to tell the story of the Baudelaire orphans. However, you, dear reader, are not, so I suggest that you reach down and press the button on your computer that says, "Power," then run away as fast as you can and throw your computer off a cliff. Please.  
  
They were crashing down the hill. "Oh, Klaus!" screamed Violet. She yanked the door of the caravan open on one side, but shut it again after seeing the steep drop to that side, and moved as quickly as she could to the other. Jerking it open, she yelled over the rushing air that threw her hair across her face and whipped her ribbon back and forth so it was barely clinging to her head. "Jump!" Klaus looked at the speeding ground a moment, and then dove from the trailer a second after his sister, and began rolling painfully down the hill after her. Press the power button. Please, dear reader, turn off this computer now. I cannot bear the thought of you learning what happened next to the poor siblings.  
  
Down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down they rolled and slid on the icy grass, hitting the occasional rock as each tried to stop their descent. Finally, Violet succeeded in ending her fall, and was able to suppress a sob as she tried to get up to help her brother, who had stopped a foot in front of her. "Klaus?" She exclaimed, and limped heavily down to see her brother. He sat up wobbly and looked up at his sister, then stood up. "Are you okay?" she asked looked her brother over, and was relieved to see he wasn't hurt except for a couple minor cuts and bruises.  
  
"Are you okay?" Asked her brother worriedly, looking at her feet. Violet looked down, and noticed that her aching ankle was swollen.  
  
"I'm fine. It's just sprained. It'll be okay." She plopped down onto the icy grass and shivered, then smiled weakly. "We're alive, at least. And we're in the Mortiman Mountains too, right where we wanted to be!"  
  
"Near the VFD headquarters, right?" sighed Klaus. "Once your ankle feels better, we have to find it." He looked around, crestfallen. "I hope they're the good ones in the schism, like Olivia said."  
  
"Well, we don't know which she meant was good. She did give us away to Olaf."  
  
"Good point." Both siblings stared at their feet. Violet sighed.  
  
"We need Deux et Machina now more than anytime, even more than when we were in the Deluxe Cell."  
  
"Yes." Agreed Klaus. "But I don't think it'll be here." He gestured to the barren wilderness surrounding them, then his face lit up with a smile, not unlike the one Violet got on her face when she figured out exactly how her invention would work. "We don't need Deux et Machina after all. There! I can see a house in the distance! The people there will help us out!"  
  
Violet grinned, then frowned. "But The Daily Punctilio! Everyone thinks we're murderers now."  
  
"Maybe they think 'No news is good news' like the Volunteers Fighting Disease or something like that." stoutly replied Klaus, which means here not that he replied fatly but that he firmly answered Violet. "It's a chance we've got to take. We can get help for your ankle there, and maybe someone to help save Sunny."  
  
"Alright." Agreed his sister. "Help me up, please." As Klaus helped her struggle to her feet, they began to walk, or in Violet's case, limp, off into the famous blue hinterland sunset. I am begging you, press the power button or click the little x at the top of the screen to close this dreaded story immediately. Just imagine that Violet and Klaus found help there, along with the rest of the Snicket File, then went and sent Olaf and his troop to jail and lived happily ever after. Imagine that, close your computer, and walk away now. And hurry. 


	2. The Snowscouts

Thanx to all my reviewers, Firecracker, devilbabe1215, and Setokaiba419! I really try hard to imitate Lemony Snicket, and hope that you all (and all the readers who didn't review) like the rest as much as you did the first chapter, if not more. For all of the disclaimers, see chapter one. Enough talk. Here's chapter two.  
  
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It was completely dark when the two reached the house, and had begun to snow. Violet weakly knocked on the green door, and moments later it swung open to reveal a girl about her age with long blonde hair pulled back with a magenta headband, blue jeans and a huge white sweatshirt saying, in big bold letters, "SNOWSCOUT." The Os were tiny snowmen, shaped like 8s.  
  
"Hi! What can I do for you?" The girl asked, almost too cheerfully.  
  
"I'm Violet and this is Klaus. I think I twisted my ankle back there. We saw this place a while back and figured there would be someone to help us here." Replied the eldest Baudelaire before her brother could say anything. He looked at her in surprise. Violet was risking everything, a phrase which here means "putting their lives in great danger if the cheerful girl thought they were murderers."  
  
The girl's expression changed instantaneously to one of concern. "C'mon in, Violet and Klaus. I'm Shannon, and welcome to the Snowscout HQ. You must be freezing! Hey, Liz!" she yelled, and a girl slightly younger than Klaus came running down the green hardwood stairs. "Meet the famous Violet and Klaus Baudelaire. Will you grab a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt out of my closet of Violet while I help her with her ankle, and the same for Klaus from Charlie's room? He won't mind." Neither thought to ask how she knew their last name as Liz ran back upstairs. "Now, follow me." She led them into a huge living room with several huge couches, a television, and a fireplace.  
  
"Just lie down for a sec while I get a first aid kit. You both look awfully scratched up. What did you do, roll down the mountain?" Violet did as she was told without a moment's hesitation, and Klaus sat down next to her, noticing the couch was just like one of those at their late Uncle Monty's house. It seemed they had been lucky for one of the first times in their lives to find this place. What had Shannon called it? Snowscout HQ, whatever that was.  
  
Once Shannon returned and started work on the siblings' cuts and bruises, she asked the crucial question: "How'd you get way out here in the middle of nowhere?" "Well," Klaus replied. "It's a long story." The two Baudelaires began telling their tale, from the horrible fire that had destroyed their lives to Count Olaf's taking Sunny.  
  
"And now we're trying to find out what VFD is, and who and where the survivor of the fire is." Violet concluded. Shannon shook her head sadly. Now please stop and do what I told to do in the first chapter. Take your mouse and move it to the top of the screen where the little x is, and click on it. Then, press the power button on the CPU, and hurl this computer off the nearest mountain peak, though if there are none near you throwing it out of an airplane is the next best thing.  
  
"You've been through a lot, most of which I've already heard, but I think we can help you with both of those questions. You see, the Snowscouts are a division of VFD up here in the Mortiman Mountains. We take care of the snowmen." 


	3. A friend rediscovered

Thanx for all the reviews! I'll keep updating as long as you all keep reviewing. Here is exciting chapter three.  
  
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Violet and Klaus gasped. Violet almost fainted, partially from shock and partially from the pain in her ankle, but stopped herself just in time. "You're a part of VFD?"  
  
"Oh, we're just neophytes." Shannon said nonchalantly, a word which here means without thinking much of it. "Like I said, we help snowmen, hence the name Snowscouts. They're other members of VFD that are hunted for things they didn't do. Things Count Olaf and his associates did. There, your ankle's done, Violet." The snowscout handed her an Aspirin. "Liz brought down some stuff for you to change into from that hospital gown. I still can't believe Olaf almost did that to you though." Shannon handed Violet the pile of clothes. "Bathroom's down the hall to the right. Can you manage walking with those crutches?" the eldest Baudelaire nodded, took the crutches and clothes, and then hobbled down the hall. Shannon directed her attention toward the middle Baudelaire. "Klaus, you can go to the upstairs bathroom to change. Liz got some stuff from Charlie that you can change into. Oh, and she'll introduce you to everyone else while you're up there. You might have to repeat your story though." Klaus smiled.  
  
"Thanks so much, Shannon." He said, and walked across the room to the stairs. Klaus immediately began climbing up the stairs.  
  
As soon as he had climbed onto the fifth green step, Klaus looked up. He couldn't believe who was standing next to Liz at the top.  
  
"Ben?" He asked, amazed.  
  
"Klaus!" a boy Shannon's age exclaimed. "Liz said you were here. Where's Violet?"  
  
"Ben?" Violet asked, appearing at the foot of the stairs, a phrase which here means not at the toes of the staircase but at the bottom of it, staring up at him in surprise. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I was about to ask your brother the same question. Need any help?"  
  
"Yes, please." She said. He and Klaus hurried down the wide steps to lend a hand. "Ben, I haven't seen you in ages! Oh, and those blueprints of that elevator helped us out a lot-"  
  
"I know all about it. I'd better make some intros or Shannon'll be upset. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the all famous Baudelaires!" announced Violet's friend.  
  
"Nancy, Lydia, Marie, Charlie, Mark, and you know Liz. Everyone, these are the Baudelaire kids that that one snowman was talking about." Immediately the mood lightened. All seven Snowscouts rushed down to help Violet and Klaus up the stairs and into another living room upstairs where they were pelted with questions. After answering all of them, ranging from, "What are you doing here?" to "What would you like for dinner?" (From Nancy, the oldest), the Baudelaires began asking questions of their own.  
  
"You're a part of VFD?" verified Violet, and then after she was answered with eight nods asked, "How do you know so much about us? How did you know our last name?"  
  
"We know about you thanks to a former snowman, who goes by L. He's bound to tell the world about you for some reason-he said it was something for some Beatrice, but he collapsed into tears at the name and wouldn't tell us any more. Mr. L has kept sending books back here though, and we've been reading them. I'll show you." 14-year-old Mark bolted up the stairs and returned a second later with seven books. "Look at these. By the way, another member of VFD, H, says that the Quagmires are perfectly fine, and now part of the organization. They'll be transferred here soon, in about a week." Violet and Klaus sighed in relief. That was another thing off their backs, which does not mean that they had a giant poster proclaiming they were worried about the Quagmires, but that they had been anxious about their friends and knowing they were safe was a comfort to them.  
  
"But what about Sunny? How are we going to get her back from Olaf? He's going to the last surviving headquarters of VFD in these mountains-hold on a second." Violet stopped, replaying what she just said in her head. "He'd have to be coming here then, because this is the VFD place in the Mortiman Mountains!" She tried to stand up, but remembered her ankle thanks to a jolt of pain and sat back down.  
  
"The information he had was wrong then." Reassured Charlie. "There are two in these mountains. One is here, and we have all the survivors safe at hand. Olaf is heading towards the wrong one, simply a field office that sends messages out by passenger pigeon. Hey," he said. "What if we send out a scout party? I bet Olaf doesn't know that the Snowscouts are part of VFD- we were formed after the schism. We can go find them, retrieve Sunny, and then you three can stay here with the snowmen!"  
  
"That's a good idea!" smiled Klaus. "That reminds me, can we meet that snowman who was talking about us now?"  
  
"Maybe in the morning. It's already late." Violet and Klaus looked up at a huge clock on the wall and realized that it was, indeed, already ten thirty.  
  
"Alright." Agreed the Baudelaires. "Where are we going to sleep?"  
  
"Lets see. Klaus can share with Charlie or Ben, and Violet can stay in my room." Said Shannon. "Do you want to look through these books before you go to sleep?" she asked them both.  
  
"Sure." Said Violet, and Ben handed them over to her. "Oops. Klaus, can you get these?" "Sure." Said her brother, as he took them from his sister. He glanced at the cover of the first volume. There stood three children underneath the title, The Bad Beginning. That sums up how this all started, he thought to himself. And how horrible everything has been since. Please stop now. If you have read this far, this is one of your last warnings. Please turn off this computer immediately and run far, far away. Thank you. Shannon showed the two to their rooms, and both fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the fluffy white pillows.  
  
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Ooooooooooohhhhhhh. Now it gets interesting. Has anyone noticed any little tiny things in these chapters that might relate to little tiny things in some of the books? Tell me if you have. I know what they are (no duh, I put them in there), and want to see how many people notice them. Chapter 4 will be up if I get a lot of reviews soon. (  
  
I'm going to reply to everyone who has reviewed so far here now, just to warn you.  
  
Devilbabe1215: My first reviewer! Thanx! Well, maybe I am Lemony or another VFDer. But if I were, would I tell you or anyone else? (mysterious background music begins to play)  
  
SetoKabia419: Thanx for the review! I try hard to really sound like Lemony Snicket. I'm glad you think that it's a good story so far. Hope I fulfill your expectations in the chapters to come.  
  
Firecracker: You reviewed twice! I can't believe it! lol. Anyway, sry but I don't have The Slippery Slope hidden away, or I'd be photocopying and selling it. Sigh. Thanx also for telling me I cant accept anonymous reviews. I changed that now.  
  
Ladysprite: I plan to continue this for a while. more chapters every week or so. Thanks for saying I sound just like Mr. Snicket! I try hard to imitate him. I hope this chapter is in his style too. 


	4. Someone they thought they would never se...

The two Baudelaires woke up late the next morning. It was already 10:00 when they sprinted, or, in Violet's case, limped quickly, down the green stairs. Klaus and his sister weren't surprised to see Shannon, Charlie, and Nancy washing and drying the dishes.  
  
"You're up late." Commented Shannon with a grin.  
  
"The snowmen were up for breakfast a while ago." Added Charlie.  
  
"Once you're a snowscout, you're going to have to get up a lot earlier." Explained Nancy. "Shannon here's been up since seven, and I've been up since 6:45." Violet and Klaus both began to laugh and the three snowscouts, who had been trying to restrain themselves, joined in.  
  
"Want some breakfast?" gasped Shannon between giggles. "Pancakes alright with you?"  
  
"Sure!" Violet couldn't remember the last time she had had pancakes. It seemed like an eternity away. Her brother felt exactly the same.  
  
"How's your ankle?" asked Nancy.  
  
"Fine, thanks. Anything we can do to help?" replied the eldest Baudelaire.  
  
"Not today." Chimed in Charlie. "You're guests today. Tomorrow you'll start pulling your weight."  
  
"So, while we're working on pancakes, why don't you start reading your biographies?" Suggested Shannon, tossing each of them a copy of The Bad Beginning. The two orphans plopped down in two of the many chairs spread throughout the huge dining room and began to read. They immediately realized that someone had been following them around. And they had taken the picture of them at Damocles Dock that the orphans had found in Olivia's archival library. But why? Both of the Baudelaires were so engrossed in the books that recounted their lives so vividly, even Violet, though she wasn't as big of a bookworm as her brother, that they hardly noticed as Shannon set their steaming breakfasts in front of them. They ate their pancakes quickly, and had almost finished their copies of the book when Lydia came skipping in.  
  
"Good morning! Do you want to meet that snowman who was talking about you?" Both Violet and Klaus were sharply yanked out of their books and snapped into reality.  
  
"Of course! Can we go down now?"  
  
"Sure. Shannon-" Lydia pleaded.  
  
"I've known him longer." Shannon argued. "I get to take them."  
  
"Awww. Please?"  
  
"Nope. You got to show K around last time."  
  
"Fine." Pouted Lydia.  
  
"Follow me!" Announced Shannon. "I think that snowman is the one in igloo 932." Klaus helped his sister up, and pulled them into what looked like a closet. Please stop now. If you have read this far, this is one of your last warnings. Please turn off this computer immediately and run far, far away. If that is not possible, since you are confined in a small space like those under a house, please turn off your computer and take the nearest object, be it your shoe or your contact lens, and use it to dismantle the machine. Thank you. It was not a closet, though. It was, instead, an elevator. The three got in, and Lydia hit the down button. The elevator plunged down nine floors into the frozen mountains and then the doors opened. Inside the pure green wood walls were set hundreds of doors with the VFD insignia on each in gold plating, much like in an apartment building.  
  
They headed down the long, long hallway, past rooms 901, 902, 903, 904, then past 918, 919, and 920, followed later on by rooms 923, 924, 925, 926, 927, 928, 929, 930, 931, 932, 933-wait! The three had passed it. They headed back a door and knocked. The door swung open, and there stood someone the two Baudelaires had thought that day on the beach and every day since that they would never, ever see again. There in the doorway stood Mr. Baudelaire.  
  
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Here I would like to reply more to my many reviewers:  
  
Firecracker: Thanx. I love my "snicketisms" like that one. (Like the new word? "snicketisms". I'll use that more often.)  
  
Anom. Reviewer "Jim": Well, no duh this is made up! I don't mean to be rude or anything, but, c'mon, it's "FANFICTION.net" Note the FICTION part.  
  
SetoKabia419: Thanx again! I meant something like * hint, hint * certain things that keep popping up that are mentioned often in Lemony Snicket's Unauthorized Autobiography that further say that this is a VFD HQ. Ok, more than enough hints. ;-) And I think I said it before that I'll continue this fanfic as long as I keep getting reviews.  
  
Mickey: Thanks so much! I read your fanfic too-it's really great so far. I'll review it sometime, but just so u know I did read it and liked it a lot. Update it soon, please!  
  
HEY! EVERYONE READING THIS (even you who didn't review (hint, hint))! Read one of my reviewer's fanfics, "The Slippery Slope" (I think that's the right title, if it's not, don't sue me.). Mickey's version is really interesting. The Baudelaires end up at a ski lodge. read it to find out more. 


	5. A new hope

Really sorry, everyone! I've been at two two-week camps with only a day in- between each and didn't get to update because they didn't have electricity and my computer didn't upload the stuff on the one day between!!!! I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really times ten million times more sorry. Here's the long awaited (and hopefully still good) Chapter 5!  
  
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"Violet? Klaus?" asked the bewildered Mr. Baudelaire.  
  
"Dad?" asked the two siblings, and ran into his arms. Shannon grinned, then ducked into another room to see a friend of hers. "We thought you were dead!"  
  
"Why didn't you get to the Snowscouts earlier? It's been over several months since the fire. Didn't the VFDers get you like your mother and I specified in our wills?"  
  
"No-Count Olaf did and things have been getting worse ever since!" sobbed Violet, who was usually a very sensible and not at all emotional girl.  
  
"What?" Their father looked taken aback, then suddenly realized what must have happened. "Oh dear. When he killed your mother and burned down the house, he must have created a false will. We mentioned in ours that you should be taken to relatives here with the Snowscouts so that you could find me. But where's your little sister?"  
  
"Count Olaf has her!" explained Klaus vehemently, a word here which means "in a very upset manner". Mr. Baudelaire looked even more shocked than before.  
  
"Tell me everything."  
  
An hour and a half later, Mr. Baudelaire was furious. "You've been through so much I can't believe. I bet you're wondering why this all happened." The two Baudelaire children nodded. "L took a sugar bowl, but E and O thought B did. She was at our house that day of the fire when those two came and attacked us. Why did they want it back so badly? I should have stopped B going to tea with Esmé that terrible day before, but it's much too late for that now." I, Lemony Snicket, wish I had never taken that sugar bowl, and that I could have stopped her too, but, alas, I could not and I did. Poor, poor Beatrice! Please excuse me while I get a box of tissues so I can continue typing this story with a not-so tearstained keyboard.  
  
"Now Olaf has Sunny!" added Klaus desperately. "But at least the Quagmires are safe."  
  
"The Quagmires?"  
  
"Yes. Two of them anyway; Isadora and Duncan. Their parents and brother Quigley died in a fire." Violet said, wiping away tears.  
  
"I didn't expect Olaf to go after them too, but maybe I should have. We were all prominent VFDers with large fortunes." The word "prominent" means very important in this situation.  
  
"You knew the Quagmires? Isadora and Duncan are our best friends!" realized Klaus.  
  
"Knew them? Of course! Our families were good friends. They moved out of the city soon after the triplets were born, however, so we didn't get to see them much. I'll tell you more about us tomorrow with everyone else, since it's already really late, and I'm sure that you're exhausted from that horrible carnival and everything else." Mr. Baudelaire hugged his two children tighter. "Don't worry, you two. We'll find Sunny in the morning."  
  
Violet and Klaus said goodnight to their long-lost but newly found father and knocked on the door Shannon had vanished into. "Nice talking to you, Sally! I'll see you in the morning, Mr. Baudelaire. Good night." she said, and the three vanished down the hallway and into the elevator again. They had been a bit afraid of elevators since their last encounter with one, but faced this one again unafraid.  
  
The Baudelaires orphans- no, just the Baudelaires now- reappeared at the top of the elevator shaft, thinking their lives had indeed taken a surprising turn for the better, and believing their father's words that they would indeed rescue their kidnapped baby sister in the morning.  
  
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Well? Terrific, good, bad, or terrible? Review and tell me.  
  
I might not be able to update for a couple weeks. Sorry about that-I'm at camp.  
  
Okay, to my trusty reviewers:  
  
Unfortunateonlooker: Thanks! I hope this chapter is Snicketish enough. Here's your update, too! I'm not sure when the next one will be though-stay tuned! It'll probably in about two weeks when I get back from camp.  
  
Thanks for reading everyone!!! I'm so happy I might just write an extended version of an English project fairy tale we had to do and post it on www.fictionpress.net. That's going to be fun. It'll be under Timmy and the Dragon or something like that! (  
  
Bye for now. ^_^ 


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